GIFT WRAPPING / FLORAL & FABRIC

we’re feeling ready for the holidays over here! this time of year comes and goes so quickly that it’s nice to get a jump start on festive activities to soak up every minute of it. today we’re talking about gift wrapping techniques with and . simone is a trusted resource in los angeles for specialty gift giving and gift boxes and kristen is our go-to floral genius. take it away, ladies!

there are so many different ways to wrap a gift and today we’re focusing on florals and fabric. imagine the look of delight when you pass one of these gifts along to a loved one!

• With holiday foliage a little goes a long way. I like to use lots of different greens to create a fragrant holiday gift topper. I make a bouquet of greens and attach it with ribbon to the top of the gift. forging outside is a great and inexpensive way to make this work.

• When adding flowers to a present I use floral glue. Hot glue would also work in a pinch! You just have to be careful to add the flowers right before you are going to present the gift. Use hardy florals like tulips, hyacinth, roses, amaryllis. and avoid flowers that fade fast out of water like peonies.

• I have been into strung blooms lately and think stringing hydrangea petals or hyacinth blooms to create a ribbon is a unique way to decorate your holiday gift. Rose petals would work well too!

simone’s insight on wrapping…

Fabric: I love the idea of wrapping packages in your favorite fabrics, or else a fabric you think the gift’s recipient will love. We used one of our favorite (which of course can be reusable) a crisply preppy gingham, a beautiful leather. The idea of the wrapping itself being a keepsake piece really adds a nice layer to this.

Tip: When you choose your fabric, make sure the fabric you choose is a bit bigger than the boxes and make sure you have extra for mistakes you might make. Most of the time, tape won’t be strong enough to hold fabric, so you can use a tiny little bit of a glue gun (don’t overdo it for the sake of preserving the fabric). If you’re really ambitious, you can hand stitch it on with a really loose whipstitch, which will produce a relaxed look. Another way to secure the package is to wrap the package in the style of Japanese Furoshiki (directions below) accented with a sprig, or with the with the ribbons you use (more on that below!)

• Lay out your fabric on a flat surface

• Tie two opposite corners together over the package

• Pull across the other two corners to meet together and tie.

Ribbons: this is such a fun accent to add to a gift and it really can take it to another level. Ribbons are a great, easy way to add texture and personality — you can chose a ribbon that’s clean and classic (like the black grosgrain), layer ribbons of differing widths, even string flowers onto sewing thread.

If you use a doubled ribbon, a cool technique is to layer it and use a wider and thinner option for dimension (this is great because, let’s face it, we can never quite decide on just one ribbon!)

We also used a wide silk for the leather wrapped gift which we wrapped around a couple of times. For the fresh flower petals, you just thread a needle and trail it through petals. It’s actually really easy —it just takes a bit of time. Such a beautiful, romantic detail.

Keep in mind that the above are such personal touches. It’s all about play and having fun with it. The wrapping doesn’t need to be perfect, the ribbons can be a bit organic in feel – push things off to the side! Wrap things a bunch of times and layer them. Have fun with it.

For an added touch of surprise and texture, add non-gift-wrap items to the gift i.e. crystals, bells, foraged pinecones. Think of unexpected elements that work with the color palette, theme, and general vibe of the gift. Bonus: These will act as keepsakes in and of themselves.

The most important thing is the idea of letting go of pristine perfection and instead thinking creative, fun, and festive. You gift recipient will love you all the more for it.